To Light Up The Corner With A Lamp

By Cheng, Shun-Chu

(Translation : Judy Yen)

It has been over three years since I knew Jonah House.  Compared with social workers there and other volunteers, three years seem to be very short.  Some people told me that I have a loving heart so that I can spare my free time as a volunteer.  To me, however, spending two hours a week is just a piece of cake.  I would like to thank Jonah House for giving me a lamp so as to light up a small corner of the society.

When I started to work as a volunteer, I noticed that the kids in Jonah House would cry out or giggle loudly.  There were not much difference between kids in the House and kids in our mind.  To recall my childhood memories, there were the same desires needed to be satisfied and same love hungered to be provided by adults. During the process of being a volunteer, I saw how the babies progress sequently from turning over in beds, learning to crawl, standing up, to finally walking by themselves.  Each week passing by, the intimacy between kids and I would be upgraded a little.

Kids after one-year-old usually would transfer to the third floor to learn other skills.  Sometimes the caretakers would tell me that we would not see one of the kids next week because s/he was going to be adopted.  Knowing that we will not see the familiar face again, surely I would feel a little sad.  At the same time, I gave my blessings to those kids who can grow up in different environments happily.

Even though kids in Jonah House receiving endless love, I still wish them can get full protection and whole-hearted care from their mothers and fathers.

When a group of kids left, another group of kids would come in.  Several questions would be pondering over in my mind: “What reasons force these kids to leave their birth family?  Do they have brothers and sisters?  Do their siblings have the same fate?  What kind of birth parents do they have?” There are many guesses emerging from my mind.  These kids inherit the appearance of their birth parents, and their parents’ palm lines reflect on their little palms.  Yet one fact can never be denied.  These kids, coming to this world and knowing nothing, all need the same quantity of love like the other kids.

The longer time I serve as a volunteer, the more kids I watch come and go.  For myself, I feel so lucky that I can grow up in a complete and normal family.  I can receive lots of teaching and assistance from so many people during my growing process. I may not achieve great accomplishment now, but I can live on healthily and peacefully day by day. There are so many people that I should be thankful along the road.  Hence whenever there are chances, I want to repay my appreciation to our society as feedback.

Thank Jonah House for giving me a lamp so that I can light up a small corner of our society.  I also believe that in every corner of Taiwan many lamps are kept lighting up in small lanes, bit streets and many cities.